Guides · Learning to fly

How to become a pilot, and what it costs

To fly on your own and take friends along, you need a private pilot licence. Getting one takes a medical, a student certificate, a written test and a flight test with an examiner. The law asks for at least 40 hours in the air, but most people need 50 to 70, and at 2026 prices that usually comes to somewhere between $17,000 and $29,000.

17Minimum age for a private licence16 to fly solo

50–70 hrsFlying most people needThe legal minimum is 40

$17–29KTypical total at 2026 pricesMostly the aircraft, then the instructor

1,812FAA medical examiners on eFlightWhere your first step usually starts

The FAA calls it a pilot certificate. Almost everyone else says licence, and we use both.

The steps, from first lesson to licence

Take a first lesson
Most schools offer a short introductory flight. It's the cheapest way to find out whether you enjoy it, and to meet an instructor. Find schools, clubs and college programmes near you.
Get your medical early
A private pilot needs at least a third-class medical certificate from an aviation medical examiner, a doctor the FAA appoints. You fill in the FAA's online form (MedXPress) first, then see the doctor within 60 days. The certificate lasts five years if you're under 40 on the day of the exam, and two years if you're 40 or over. The doctor sets the fee; one university health system charges $160. If you have a health condition or take regular medicine, read the FAA's guidance and bring your records: refusals are rare, but surprises cost time. Find a medical examiner near you.
Get a student pilot certificate
You apply online, usually with your instructor, and it takes about three weeks to arrive. You need it before you fly solo, and it doesn't expire. Before training starts, US citizens show the school proof of citizenship; anyone else first needs a security check by the Transportation Security Administration.
Learn the theory
Rules, weather, navigation, radio calls and how the aircraft works. You can learn it in a classroom, with your instructor or online. The FAA's own textbook, the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, is free to download; commercial online courses cost a few hundred dollars.
Pass the written test
Sixty questions, two hours, and a pass mark of 70 per cent. It costs $175 at a testing centre, and a pass counts for 24 months, so take your flight test within that time.
Fly solo
Before your first flight alone, your instructor gives you a short written test and signs your logbook for that make and model of aircraft.
Cross-country and night flying
Your 40 hours have to include 3 hours of cross-country training, 3 hours at night with 10 night landings and a flight of more than 100 nautical miles, 3 hours flying by instruments alone, and 10 hours solo, including a 150-mile solo trip with landings at three airports.
The checkride
The FAA flight test: questions on the ground, then a flight with an examiner. Examiners set their own fees, and one university tells its students to budget $800 to $1,500. Find pilot examiners by state.

Sources: 14 CFR 61.23, FAA medical certification, University of Utah Health, FAA student pilot certificate, 49 CFR 1552, FAA knowledge test table, PSI, 61.39, 61.87, 61.109, Wright State University.

How old do you have to be?

To do this	Minimum age
Fly solo as a student	16 (14 in a glider or balloon)
Take the private pilot written test	15
Hold a private pilot licence	17 (16 in a glider or balloon)
Hold a sport pilot licence	17 (16 in a glider or balloon)
Commercial pilot, flight instructor	18
Airline transport pilot	23 (21 on the reduced-hours routes)

Sources: FAA, 61.103, 61.305, 61.123, 61.183, 61.153.

How many hours does it really take?

The legal minimum is 40 hours of flying, or 35 on a Part 141 school's FAA-approved course. Most people finish somewhere between 50 and 70. One university warns its students to expect $1,000 to $3,000 on top of the course fee for extra hours.

Hours of flying for a private licence

Part 141 minimum35 hoursPart 61 minimum40 hoursWhat most people need50 to 70 hours

The minimums are in the rules; the typical range is AOPA's.

What matters most is how often you fly. AOPA's advice is at least two lessons a week, and three is better. Leave a few days between lessons and you spend the start of each one getting back to where you were.

How much does a private licence cost?

The aircraft, paid by the hour, is the biggest single cost, and the instructor comes next. Here's a worked example using two published 2026 price lists for the same training aircraft, a Cessna 172S: one at a flight school, one at a community college.

Lower example about $17,000

Aircraft$11,880Instructor in the air$2,655Instructor on the ground$1,180Examiner's fee$800Headset$150Ground school course$0Written test$175Medical exam$160

Higher example about $28,600

Aircraft$19,390Instructor in the air$3,905Instructor on the ground$1,775Examiner's fee$1,500Headset$1,299Ground school course$349Written test$175Medical exam$160

The lower example is 60 hours of flying, the middle of AOPA's typical range, at Journeys Aviation's non-member rate of $198 an hour and $59 for the instructor; the higher one is 70 hours at Mercer County Community College's $257 plus a $20 fuel charge and $71 for the instructor. About 15 hours of each are solo. The ground hours with an instructor are our assumption. Not included: insurance, charts and logbook, a second attempt at a test, travel. Other figures: Wright State University (examiner), PSI (written test), University of Utah Health (medical), PilotMall (headset), King Schools (online course).

What moves the total, in order:

The aircraft's hourly price. Cessna 172s run from about $180 an hour at one school to $277 with fuel at one college. A newer, faster trainer such as a Cirrus SR20 can cost $455 an hour at another college.
Your hours, which depend mostly on how often you fly, and on the weather.
The instructor's rate: $59 and $71 an hour in the examples above, and $140 at one college.
School or college. College flight fees for the private licence stage alone run from $16,567 to $37,920, before tuition.

Sources: Emerson Aviation, Mercer County Community College, Lake Superior College, Wright State University.

How to pay less

Fly two or three times a week

You spend less of each lesson relearning the last one, which is where most of the extra hours come from.

Look at a flying club

One lists its Cessna 172s at $175 an hour, plus $180 a month and a $1,200 refundable deposit. A club only saves money if you fly enough to spread the dues.

Flying clubs on eFlight →

Study at home

Do the reading before each lesson, so the time you pay your instructor for goes on flying.

Use a simulator for some lessons

One school charges $88 an hour for its simulator against $198 for its Cessna, and a limited amount of simulator time counts towards the 40 hours.

Apply for scholarships

In 2025 the AOPA Foundation gave $2.2 million to nearly 400 people, including $12,900 each to high school students and teachers training for a private licence. EAA chapters give young people up to $12,000.

Don't prepay big sums

A block-hours discount is usually small, and if the school closes your money may be gone. Our guide to choosing a flight school explains.

Sources: TSS Flying Club, Journeys Aviation, 61.109, AOPA scholarships, EAA.

Find a school near you

Every school, club and college flight programme in your state, with its aircraft and its safety record.

State

Is a sport pilot licence a cheaper start?

It can be. A sport pilot licence needs at least 20 hours of flying, 15 of them with an instructor, and you can fly on a US driver's licence instead of an FAA medical, as long as any FAA medical application you've made wasn't denied and you know of no condition that would make you unsafe.

Since October 22, 2025, under the FAA's MOSAIC rule, sport pilots can fly more kinds of aircraft. The test is now the stall speed (the slowest speed at which the wing keeps flying), which must be 59 knots or less with the flaps up. That takes in some four-seat aircraft, though no more than two people may be on board. With extra training, sport pilots can now fly at night, but only with an FAA medical or BasicMed.

What is BasicMed?

BasicMed lets a private pilot fly without an FAA medical certificate. You see a state-licensed doctor every four years and take an online course every two. You must have held an FAA medical at some point after July 14, 2006, so a new student usually needs one FAA medical first. Since November 2024 it covers aircraft of up to 12,500 pounds certified for up to seven people, carrying up to six passengers, below 18,000 feet and no faster than 250 knots (FAA).

What comes after the private licence?

Each step needs more flying. The airline transport pilot certificate, which both pilots on a US airline must hold, needs 1,500 hours, though former military pilots qualify with 750 and graduates of some aviation degree programmes with 1,000 or 1,250.

Flying hours needed for each certificate

Private pilot40 hoursCommercial pilot250 hoursAirline pilot, former military750 hoursAirline pilot, aviation degree1,000 or 1,250 hoursAirline pilot1,500 hours

Sources: 61.109, 61.129, 61.159, 61.160. The instrument rating, for flying in cloud, needs 50 hours of cross-country flying in charge of the aircraft and 40 hours of instrument time (61.65).

What pilots earn median pay, May 2025, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Airline pilots$232,140Commercial pilots$123,220

The government expects about 16,400 openings a year for airline and commercial pilots between 2025 and 2035 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). One university lists $83,419 in flight fees from private licence to commercial pilot on twin-engine aircraft for 2026–27 (Utah Valley University).

Questions people ask

How long does it take to get a private pilot licence?

There is no set time. It depends mostly on how often you fly: AOPA advises at least two lessons a week, and most people need 50 to 70 hours of flying.

Do I need a medical certificate before my first lesson?

No. You need it, with your student pilot certificate, before you fly solo. Get it early anyway, so any problem shows up before you have spent much. Find a medical examiner.

Can I use the GI Bill to learn to fly?

The GI Bill pays for training after the private licence, at a Part 141 school or Part 142 training centre approved for it. Degree programmes at colleges follow separate rules (Veterans Affairs).

Do airline pilots need a college degree?

Airlines usually want one: the Bureau of Labor Statistics says airline pilots typically need a bachelor's degree, in any subject. An aviation degree can also cut the hours needed for an airline licence.

How much do pilots earn?

In May 2025 the median was $232,140 a year for airline pilots and $123,220 for commercial pilots, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sources

All checked on October 19, 2026. Prices are examples from published lists, not recommendations.